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A nation facing odds to surmount terror challenge

December 15, 2012 : FIDELIS SORIWEI

A bomb blast scene at Jaji | credits: File copy

FIDELIS SORIWEI writes that the just concluded 2012 Chief of Army Staff conference provided an avenue for the conception of new strategies to combat terrorism in Nigeria

Traditionally, the annual Chief of Army Staff conference is designed as a period of stocktaking about the activities of the men of the Nigerian Army in the preceding 12 months. However, the 2012 Asaba Summit of the generals and top operatives of the Nigerian Army was a near departure from the norm. The critical security conference went beyond the usual ritual of self-assessment and evaluation. The week-long exercise was marked by intense brainstorming in the search for solutions to the security riddles threatening the cords that unite the country.

Although the Commandant of the Nigerian Army Engineering Corps, Maj.-Gen. Adebayo Olaniyi, gave a vivid account of the activities of the Nigerian Army engineers and their exploits in barracks rehabilitation and road construction, the Army had more pressing issues in mind. Even the leadership of the Nigerian Army would not make pretences about their preoccupation at the gathering in Asaba, the Delta State capital, which had the theme, ‘Consolidating Nigerian Army Transformation Drive towards Enhanced National Security.’ Without any doubt, this consciousness about the challenge of insecurity may have been deepened by the twin bomb explosions which rocked the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State. The explosions which occurred at the St. Andrew’s Military Protestant Church, Jaji, coincided with the opening of the annual Army conference. The incident, which resulted in the death of 17 people and the injuries to many others, is still raising dust in military circles.

At the end of the five-day talks between a select category of civilian collaborators and the military, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, promised Nigerians a 2013 that would be marked by a holistic action from the military and other security agencies involved the campaign against insecurity and terrorism. The Army boss brought to the fore the need for closer and more effective supervision of military personnel by the various commanders of the Army in the coming year as part of the Army’s solutions to the incidence of insecurity ravaging parts of the country.

“Nigerians should expect more comprehensive action by the military and all the security agencies. Part of the decisions arrived at is that unit commanders should liaise more and they should supervise and monitor their personnel more closely than they have done in the past. So, 2013, to my mind, would be decisive,” he said.

While setting the stage for the deliberations at the summit, Ihejirika gave an indication of major adjustments in the operations of the Army in view of the emerging security threats. He listed training and retraining of personnel and effective collaborative efforts with other security agencies among the new areas that will be prioritised under his leadership in 2013. He stated that the Nigerian Army Training School in Kotangora, Niger State, had been upgraded to introduce courses in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency in addition to the existing training in conventional warfare. According to him, the Army authorities have made it compulsory for all recruits and newly commissioned officers of the NA to undertake the advanced recruit training on counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency. Ihejirika explained that the new courses were deliberately designed to give the requisite skills in asymmetric warfare to young officers and recruits of the NA.

“So far, 278 personnel of other services and 1,952 soldiers have received CTCOIN training at NATRAC in addition to significant number of NPF personnel. I wish to acknowledge the support of the Department of State Service in the intelligence package of the training. Meanwhile, the training in NATRAC is in addition to other routine training activities in all the 23 training establishments in the NA,” he said.

He stated that the consciousness of the Nigerian Army about the shift in focus from the training in conventional warfare to the addition of crucial trainings in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency was responsible for the decision of the service to publish “Leadership and Command Manuals’ and Basic Essentials for IS/CTCOIN Operations meant to serve as a guide for the conduct of operations of army personnel.

Aside from the issue of intensified training, the army chief stated that deliberate efforts were made to enhance ‘synergy and partnership’ with other security agencies in an effort to stamp out violence and insecurity in the society. Ihejirika stated that the lead lecture of the conference, “Enhancing Inter Agency Cooperation in Conflict Management,” was selected because of the realisation of the importance of collaborative efforts between the various security agencies. It was the viewpoint of the army chief that security agencies would be in a vantage position to record more successes with improved collaboration. Specifically, Ihejirika recalled that he had struck an agreement with the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, “on far-reaching measures that will enhance the current effort at addressing terrorism and other related internal security challenges.”

further insight into a session held behind closed doors, stated that the conference advocated national intelligence fusion in a bid to actualise improved intelligence gathering. He said that the campaign against terrorism was an ongoing battle that made it mandatory to have improved intelligence gathering among the various security agencies. He stated that the Army had been working with intelligence agencies like the State Security Service, the Nigerian Intelligence Agencies and some foreign bodies, which he did not mention. He said intelligence gathering and sharing was important as the agencies were up in a battle against a group of people in the society engrossed in planning mayhems.

Ihjejirika was not the only personality in the vanguard of increased collaboration among the security agencies in the coordination of the fight against terrorism in the country. President Goodluck Jomnathan challenged the Army to lead other security agencies to come up with new strategies which could be exploited to win the war against terrorism. Represented by the Minister of State for Defence, Mrs. Olusola Obada, Jonathan stated that the war against terror could only be won with an integrated approach of all security agencies involved the anti-terror campaign.

“The threat of terrorism in some parts of our country remains an issue of serious national concern, with the potential to impede our transformation drive. The recent achievements by the security agencies in the fight to defeat terrorism underscore my earlier position that the extremist threats will soon be a thing of the past. I must however, emphasise that an integrated approach involving all the security agencies is crucial in effectively combating the threat so as to create a stable atmosphere for economic activities to thrive in the affected areas,” he said.

Spokesperson for the Senate Unity Forum, Senator Kabir Marafa, saying his colleagues passed a vote of confidence in Dr. Bukola Saraki’s senate leadership in order to spite President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress leadership.